Home-schooling young learners like a pro during "Covid -19" Pandemic.
Over 1.5 Billion learners in 165 countries are affected by COVID - 19 school closures. Never before have we witnessed educational disruption on such a scale. The coalition is a call for coordinated and innovative action to unlock solutions that will not only support learners and teachers now, but through the recovery process, with a principle focus on inclusion as well.
Since closing schools to Covid - 19 Pandemic, governments have been deploying distance learning solutions and grappling with the complexity of provisioning education remotely, from delivering content and supporting teachers to providing guidance to families and addressing connectivity challenges. Equity is the paramount concern because closures disproportionately hurt vulnerable and disadvantaged students who rely on schools for a range of social services: - said Unesco Director- General Audrey Azoulay.
Than, immediately increases the awareness of planning how to make the education functions even when the schools are closed until the moment we are talking about. There was a great wave of getting information how to put it into practice back again by using every kind of sites and platforms, like we actually are using by ourselves, in every way possible. Through school closures and quarantines, we already found the way of connecting and teaching and learning. I am sure that everyone use a mixture of software to communicate between staff and with the students , including Google Hangouts, Zoom, Face Time, Classroom meet, Blog etc...
Teacher's role in the Pandemic times.
As people around the world are taking precautions to protect themselves, their families and their communities from the disease it is also important that learners can continue to learn and that they can do so in an environment that is welcoming, respectful, inclusive and supportive to all. Schools, parents and teachers play a vital role in this. Sharing accurate information will help diminish learner' fears and anxieties around the disease and support the ability to cope with any secondary impacts in their live.
A teacher i heard about, expresses that her life has changed drastically during the past weeks. She expresses :
- My private life and work life are no longer separate. By day, my 40 sq ft apartment becomes a classroom. Where i used to relax and watch Tv is now my very own recording studio where I film myself explaining tasks and demonstrating activities. Where I used to prepare meals together with my housemates and reflect on the day, has become an area to produce props for these lessons. I try to set all the activities the day before and schedule them to sync with what's on the children's timetable. Then, using FaceTime , I call eight of the children in my class and work through a problem with them,before calling another eight. It's been interesting to see the role of the children's families play - engaging the children, helping them out and congratulating them when they've done well. I heard one child's parent cheer the other day as she never heard him speak English before. Their parents are not teachers so cannot help them in the ways we are trained to do but the role of them has been crucial to this learning experiment working , and again we teachers are very fortunate in this regard.
A teacher i heard about, expresses that her life has changed drastically during the past weeks. She expresses :
- My private life and work life are no longer separate. By day, my 40 sq ft apartment becomes a classroom. Where i used to relax and watch Tv is now my very own recording studio where I film myself explaining tasks and demonstrating activities. Where I used to prepare meals together with my housemates and reflect on the day, has become an area to produce props for these lessons. I try to set all the activities the day before and schedule them to sync with what's on the children's timetable. Then, using FaceTime , I call eight of the children in my class and work through a problem with them,before calling another eight. It's been interesting to see the role of the children's families play - engaging the children, helping them out and congratulating them when they've done well. I heard one child's parent cheer the other day as she never heard him speak English before. Their parents are not teachers so cannot help them in the ways we are trained to do but the role of them has been crucial to this learning experiment working , and again we teachers are very fortunate in this regard.
Since this is a free topic to discuss,as we see, I choose to mention the great role of the teacher in the teaching process, not for students only (students are supposed to find it easy in learning through online communication) but for pupils as well. Considering ourselves as future teachers, immediately comes to our mind some big questions about how to teach young learners through computer and online through internet, with the help of their parents. How to communicate with parents,on the other hand,of how to follow the instructions.
Tips for having appropriate discussions with young learners...
* Make sure to listen to children's concerns and answer their questions in an age appropriate manner. Don't overwhelm with them with too much information. Encourage them to express and communicate their feelings.
* Emphasize that children can do a lot to keep themselves and others safe. For example, introduce the concept of social distancing also focus on good health behaviors. Discuss the different feelings they may be experiencing and explain that these are normal reactions to an abnormal situations.
* Help children understand the basic concept of disease prevention and control. Use exercises that demonstrate how germs can spread. For example, you can put colored water in a spray bottle and spray it on a piece of white paper, than observe how far the droplets travel.
* Demonstrate why it's so important to maintain a clean personal hygiene. For example, put a small amount of glitter in a pupil's hand and have them wash them with just water and notice how much glitter remains. Than have them wash for 20 seconds with soap and water and see how the glitter is gone.
Watch this ' 1 minute' video below for more...
Upper Secondary School
Plan for continuity of learning
* Use online learning strategies.
* Assigning reading and exercises for home study.
* Radio, Podcast or television broadcasts for academic content.
* Teachers conduct remote daily or weekly follow up with students.
* Review/develop accelerated education strategy.
Monitor school attendance
* Implement school absenteeism monitoring systems to track students absence and compare against usual absenteeism patterns at the school.
Implement targeted health education
* Integrate disease prevention and control in daily activities and lessons.Ensure content is age-, gender-, ethnicity-, and disability-responsive and activities are built into existing subjects.
Address mental health/Psycho-social support needs
* Encourage students to discuss their questions and concerns.
* Explain it is normal that they may experience different reactions and to talk to teachers if they have any question or concern.
* Provide information in an honest, age-appropriate manner.
* Guide students on how to support their peers and prevent exclusion and bullying.
* Work to identify and support students who exhibit signs of distress.
Finally we come to conclusion that apart from doing the great job of teaching, apart from the self difficulties facing, teachers are making a glorious work in supporting mentally and morally their pupils and students.
Thank you !
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